


Kingdom Come

by hannahmura



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Evil Lilith, F/F, Fluff, Inappropriate Behavior, Love at First Sight, Luz deserves good things only, Mutual Pining, Not explicitly but there are undertones, Older Emira and Edric, Overcoming Adversity, Racism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29211996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahmura/pseuds/hannahmura
Summary: A year after the war between humans and witches ended, and three years after Luz Nocedas father dies her mother, Camila, marries a man named Belos. Although Belos was stoic and his towering figure intimidated Luz when she was a young child, he treated her mother well and put up with Luz’s impulsive and oftentimes destructive behaviour. The man was wealthy and not unkind, and his daughter Lilith was a delight to play around with, treating Luz as if she was her own sister.But then Luz’s mother died, and any light and warmth in her life left with her. Luz quickly realized her new family were not the people she thought they were, and all of her precious belongings were stripped away from her when she was forced into becoming a servant for them. Life as a maid is dissatisfying and drab, but Luz never gave up on dreaming of a better, brighter future.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 25
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

A year after the war between humans and witches ended, and three years after Luz Nocedas father dies her mother, Camila, marries a man named Belos.

Although Belos was stoic and his towering figure intimidated Luz when she was a young child, he treated her mother well and put up with Luz’s impulsive and oftentimes destructive behaviour. The man was wealthy and not unkind, and his daughter Lilith was a delight to play around with, treating Luz as if she was her younger sister. Luz still remembers playing chase with the older woman in the halls of their large manor and hiding underneath Belos’ long and heavy robes, trying to stifle her giggles into her palms at Liliths over exaggerated show of confusion when Luz was nowhere to be seen. Her favourite memories were of when Lilith would show her magic. Wild, unpredictable magic. As a human Luz had no magical ability, so watching the glittering sparkles explode into the air from Lilith's finger tips filled her with awe and amazement. For a few glorious years Belos and Lilith filled the gaping hole her fathers death left behind in Luz’s and Camila's heart, and although they would never replace him, Luz hoped they could be just as dear to her.

But then Luz’s mother died, and any light and warmth in her life left with her. Luz quickly realized her new family were not the people she thought they were; Belos became a daunting and dominating presence while Lilith turned cruel and callous. After that there were no games or magic shows. All of her precious belongings were stripped away from her and she was forced to stay in a small room at the very back of the manor, away and out of site. 

Everything is fine, though. Luz swears everything is completely fine. Being optimistic and confident is an integral part of her, even when she and her mother were mourning over her late father she still kept her head up and believed something good would come their way, and it did! For a few years, she and her mother lived in pure bliss! And, yeah, maybe it blew up in her face, and she’s been spending all of her hours everyday scrubbing counters until her fingers sting and shake from bleach, and she lives in a perpetual state of warniness, and her mothers death still makes her feel incredibly raw- as if her heart chest was split and someone cut open her heart, but that doesn’t mean she’ll ever give up and stop dreaming of a bright future. Even if her circumstances somehow get worse she will always hope and believe that something good will come her way. 

Camila always said that her stubborn optimism and ability to remain hopeful even during dark and drab times was admirable, so she clings to that as much as possible. Even if her mother is no longer with her she doesn’t want to disappoint her by giving up. 

And it’s not as if her life is all doom and gloom! During her time living in Belos’ manor she has made a couple of new friends, and although she can’t spend too much time with them without it cutting into her duties at home (and risk Belos and Lilith finding out), every moment she spends with Willow and Gus she cherishes. 

And speaking of friends…

Luz’s eyes flutter and nose scrunches as a soft appendage gently pats her on the forehead. She sighs quietly and pulls her thin, threadbare blanket up higher, snuggling her cheek into her pillow and fully intending to fall back into a deep sleep. As the patting becomes more incessant with no sign of stopping Luz is forced to slowly rouse from her slumber and sit up on her bed, but not without an unhappy grumble. The tired frown on her face quickly morphs into a delighted grin as she turns around and comes face to face with the individual responsible for waking her up. She kicks her blanket off her legs and sits off the edge of the bed, slipping on her old, worn flats and picks up the bone-dog demon with a coo.

“Good morning, King.” She says after giving King a flurry of smooches on his skull, snuggling him close to her tightly. King tries to resist at first, pushing Luz’s chin with his paws in an attempt to put distance between them before he gives up and lets himself be coddled by Luz with a sigh of defeat. 

“Morning, Luz.” He says as he’s put back down on the bed on all fours and slumps down on his stomach. 

“Thanks for waking me up. I was out like a light.” Luz walks up to her rickety chest of drawers and looks through the scant contents in each drawer- whatever clothing she does have is rough on her skin or faded in colour from having to wash them so many times, but she doesn’t dwell on the depressing state of her clothes and pulls out a short sleeved shirt, a brown pinafore dress and a plain pair of leggings. She changes in the small bathroom adjoined to her room, going through her daily morning routine and freshening up. The old tap in the bathroom trickles ice cold water weakly, and the light bulb flickers even though she screwed it in only two weeks ago, while the space is so small and cramped that it’s difficult to move around properly, but that’s okay- she’s barely in there anyway. When Luz emerges from the bathroom she grabs King and sneaks out her room, listening carefully for any other footsteps. Belos and Lilith always wake up after Luz, giving her plenty of time to prepare and serve breakfast, but she can’t help being paranoid. If either of them found out about King she doesn’t know what she’d do. 

She successfully makes her way to the kitchen without being disturbed, and places King on one of the counters. As she cuts fresh fruit to serve with breakfast she feeds King a few pieces, even though she’s aware that he forages for himself. He accepts her offerings with a self-pleased giggle anyways. Luz loves these quiet and calm mornings with King. He usually scurries away when it's time for Luz to do her other chores deeper in the house a couple of hours after breakfast to avoid Lilith and Belos, and sometimes climbs back into her room during the night. His company definitely beats the eerie silence that haunts the manor. Sometimes the quietness and isolation is so oppressive she can hear her own heartbeat in her ears, her skin feeling too tightly wrapped around her bones. 

Just as she puts the cut fruit to the side and is about to turn the stove on, a loud ding echoes, and she freezes, realizing that there must be someone at the door. Visitors are very rare, so the sound is unfamiliar, and sort of unnerving. She didn’t know about any guests, and Belos and Lilith prefer to go out than invite anyone over. King belts towards the window at the sound and lingers close outside, just in case. 

The man at the door is unusual, to the least. Definitely not what Luz was expecting. She thought the man was a demon at first because of the red devil (hat?) covering the upper half of his face, revealing only his eyes. The wrinkles on his face and slight hunch of his back show that he’s a lot older, and he’s donned in a long, extravagant robe. A lot fancier than anything anyone down at the village would wear everyday. He looks very important- and he’s glaring right at Luz. “Belos residence?” He asks through gritted teeth, injecting venom into his voice as much as possible. 

Luz cowers away slightly at the harsh tone, but plasters on a half convincing smile to avoid seeming rude. “Got it in one,” She chuckles awkwardly and rubs the back of her neck, “So, uhm, what brings you here, sir?” 

Instead of answering her question the man tilts his head to the side and purses his lips. Luz’s shoulders stiffen as he eyes her warily, even going as far as to lean forward while inspecting her. She starts to regret answering the door in the first place, and is just about to back away and put some distance between the two before the man nods his head and straightens up, as if coming to some conclusion. “You’re not his daughter.” He observes. 

“That I am not,” Luz points a thumb behind her, “Lilith is upstairs. “I am- i’m just myself.” She laughs ungracefully, eyes darting around in discomfort. 

Suddenly, the man bursts into a pleasant smile, his whole mood brightening. “Well, if that’s so,” He stands smartly and puffs his chest out proudly, “I am Bump, and I come on the behalf of Her Royal Majesty Emira, by the Grace of the Titan, Queen of the Boiling Isles. 

Luz’s eyes widen in surprise, and she stares at Bump as if he grew two legs. “The Queen? That's so cool!” She has to reel in the impulse to grab Bump's shoulders and shake him back and forth in excitement. 

“It is indeed,” Bump snaps his fingers, and Luz flinches in surprise when a letter appears out of thin air in a poof of glitter, her shock turning into wonder as she gazes at the delicate sparkles falling and disappearing into the ground. “An urgent message from Queen Emira.” He says, handing Luz the envelope, who takes it happily. 

“Thanks so much.” Luz says breathlessly. She takes Bumps hand in a tight grip and shakes it up and down quickly, unable to fully contain her enthusiasm. Fortunately the man seems more amused than weirded out by her reaction.

She sprints to the kitchens in excitement when the man says his goodbyes and leaves, she can’t wait to tell King about freaking Queen Emira sending them a letter. The light pink envelope feels weighty and sleek in her hands, and she guesses the paper inside would be a thick, expensive parchment, the type Belos uses in his study to write letters to other nobles.

King crawls back through the window and into the manor when he hears the door to the kitchen creak open. He scales Luz’s body and peers over her shoulder, looking at the envelope held gingerly in the girl's hands with curiosity. “What is it?” He points a claw to the letter, “And who was at the door?” 

“Only an ‘urgent message’ from the Queen of the Boiling Isles herself!” Luz exclaims. “The guy at the door was a messenger for her!” She holds the letter away from her and in the air when King starts making grabby hands for it. 

“Open it! Open it!” He demands. Luz sets him down on the counter as he starts hanging off her arm, she can tell he’s playing up his eagerness to match Luz’s energy, but she appreciates it anyways and smiles at him with mirth.

“I can’t, silly. Belos will notice if I opened it.” She tucks the letter away on a shelf and resumes cooking breakfast. King scoffs at that, his multi colored eyes hooded to show how unimpressed he is with Luz’s excuse. 

“Pfft, who cares? Just don’t tell him about it. Easy!” King shrugs and leans back, looking pleased and self-fulfilled as if he just cured the whole world's problems with his advice. 

She snickers at the demon's bold suggestion. No, a letter coming from the Royal Family is bound to be very important and Belos will absolutely have to read it as the head of the house. Luz is practically their servant, so she has no right to read it at all, never mind first,  
and if she ever dared a punishment would be in store for her. It’s generally a good idea to avoid doing anything that would merit punishment, even if she wants nothing but to tear the envelope open and read the message.

A high chime reverberates, informing Luz that Belos and Lilith are awake and prepared to eat, urging her to quickly arrange the plates and cutlery on a ceramic tray and attempt to carry it with the letter also clasped in her hand. Before entering the dining room Belos and Lilith are waiting for their meal, she can easily overhear their conversation- something about politics- or whatever, she isn’t very interested. Whatever happens outside the manor and their little village isn’t known to her. Their gazes lock onto the bright pink letter clutched in her hand after she places the tray on the table.

“It’s- it’s a letter, from Queen Emira. Urgent, they said.” Lilith quirks an eyebrow in curiosity and reaches for the letter, which Luz hands over happily. She’s buzzing from excitement and anticipation. What if it’s an epic quest?! Or a map to buried treasure? Or maybe Belos is being tried for some crime? Yeah, she can imagine that one. That man definitely has a couple of skeletons in his closet, maybe literal skeletons, if that’s the reason he’s going to get arrested. But the question is who did the skeleton belong t-

Her inner monologue trails off when she notices the cold glare Lilith is throwing at her, and she feels her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, realizing she’s overstaying her welcome. Belos himself is completely uninterested with her presence and is busy eating his breakfast with his face turned away and eyes down, likely not even realizing that she’s still in the room. Of course they won't let her find out the contents of the letter, she’s barely part of the family. She’s a servant, a nobody, she doesn’t deserve to even stand thirty miles away from the palace, let alone know about its wheelings and dealings. 

The gloomy and self-deprecating thoughts continue to swirl in her mind, even as she storms into the kitchen and snatches the mop and bucket from the supply closet and begins mopping the closest hallway with far more vigour and pressure necessary, a worried King hanging off her shoulder. Instead of letting the disappointment fester inside, Luz lets it turn into anger. It won’t change anything, and she’ll end up hating herself even more when she calms down, but savagely chucking the washed mop bucket back into the closet and slamming the door shut with her foot makes her feel good in the present. 

It all gets worse when Lilith stops her from heading to the market to run some errands with a firm grip on her forearm. “Yes?” Luz swallows roughly, it’s never good to be left alone with Lilith, but she can’t just ignore her, even if all she wants to do is run in the opposite direction. Besides, Lilith's curled hand around her arm still hasn’t let up, even though she already has all of Luz’s undivided attention. “Do you need anything?” 

Lilith tilts her head to the side as if she’s thinking hard and deep about what she wants from Luz when in reality this is probably another one of her games. And not the fun ones she used to play with Luz, where their cheeks would hurt from smiling so much. Definitely not those kinds of games.“Hm, yes, I do.” She hums, and hands Luz a little piece of paper. “Pick up everything on the list for me, would you? I’ve already paid.” 

“Yep, will do.” Luz turns around, towards the door, and barely makes one step before the hand on her arm tightens and keeps her in place. She faces Lilith, suppressing her desire to roll her eyes at being held back for longer and tilts her head to the side in question. “Yes?” 

“You must be curious about the letter we received from the palace,” Lilith states. Her painted lips are pulled into a smarmy smirk. “Aren’t you?” 

As always, Lilith can read her like a book. Luz hates how her feelings are always so obvious, and how Lilith gains some sick satisfaction from exploiting them and winding her up further. She feels like an idiot for being so transparent all the time. “Uh, uhm,” Lilith studies her closely, eyes knowing. There’s no point in lying. “Yeah, I am.” She admits. 

“How cute,” Lilith pats Luz on the head condescendingly, further humiliating the girl. “But that’s none of your business, sweet girl.” Luz shys away from Lilith’s cold touch and disregards the way her eyes narrow in response to her avoidance. “You understand, someone like you shouldn’t be involving themselves in the Royal Family's matters.” 

And how is she meant to respond to that? Luz already knows that whatever Queen Emira had said in the letter was not for her eyes, that anything happening beyond the manor should be none of her concern. Belos had made it obvious by isolating her from the outside world, never allowing her to stay out unless she’s running errands, and not for too long before he gets suspicious. It’s not fair, and just that fact is peeving her off even more. Also, ‘someone like you’? As if her and Belos didn’t turn her into...this themselves. In an effort to get away from Lilith's uncomfortable company she nods in understanding and mutters out an ‘excuse me’, wrenching herself free from Lilith and slipping through the door.

The way Lilith spoke to her, in that stupid posh voice, with that stupid smug smile, saying those stupid and mean words reignites her frustration and prompts her to kick the decorative garden stone in front of her. That was obviously a mistake, and now she’s clutching onto her throbbing foot and cursing under her breath. Yeah, that was entirely Liliths fault too, she decides. At least no one was there to witness the cringe worthy scene. King has already left to ‘continue planning his massive diabolical plan of taking over the world,’ or whatever he gets up to in his free time, so he’s not here to guffaw and rub it in her face. 

Luckily Luz has enough time to take a detour, so when the pain in her foot fades away, instead of going straight to the butchers as she usually does, she heads to the little flower shop near the edge of the village's marketplace.


	2. Chapter 2

Luz turns to a smaller street and follows the path until a familiar building comes to view. Bright and saccharine flowers crowd the front of the modest sized store, buried in pots with price tags pasted onto them. The sweet fragrance of the flowers floods her senses, and although her anger hasn’t fully disappeared she pushes it down and plasters a smile on her face. It’s half genuine, she really is excited to see her friends, but she also doesn’t want them to worry about her. Gus has always been perceptive and observant, and Willow has such a massive heart that she’d want to help Luz. Getting them involved with Belos and Lilith's mess, and their odd and incessant agenda against Luz, seems like the worst idea. The pair are already suspicious, but they don’t know the specifics, and Luz would rather it stay that way. 

A bell chimes when she opens the door and steps into the store, the floral aroma stronger in the enclosed space. The store is void of any customers, and the only sounds are a light hummed melody coming from a hunched over figure behind the counter, and a high clinking sound. When the door shuts and a bell rings again from the movement the figure abruptly perks up and his lips curl into a massive grin once he catches sight of Luz at the entrance. 

“Luz!” Gus exclaims, dashing through the gap between the counter and wrapping his arms around Luz.

Luz giggles and hugs Gus back fiercely, until she’s lifted him off the floor from the hold. “Gus! My buddy, the light of my life.” Gus laughs breathlessly when Luz eases her hold and his feet hit the ground again. “How are you?” 

“Better now that you're here.” Gus grins. 

“Oh, you.” Luz flicks her wrist, pretending to be bashful. “Hey, where’s Willow?” She stands on the tips of her feet and peers over the counter and into the door behind it, searching for her other friend. Willow and Gus are usually attached to the hip. 

“She’s in the-” 

“I’m here!” The girl in question walks in from the door and joins Gus and Luz in their hug. She clings onto Luz and buries her face into the crook of her neck. Luz blushes at the clingy gesture; she’s grown unused to affection. Lilith’s little gestures like heatpatting and calling her cute only ever come off as condescending and demeaning- and are definitely unwanted. She absolutely adores hugging Willow and Gus though. “It’s been so long, Luz. What have you been up to?”

It’s only been about a week since she’s last visited, but Luz doesn’t mention that fact, and instead waves her hand flippantly while trying to look casual. “Oh, you know. The ushe.” Gus just gives her a dubious look in response and Luz awkwardly averts her gaze at the stare. 

“You mean the usual of being trapped in that m-” A sharp prod in the ribs from Willow cuts Gus off, who chuckles self-consciously and murmurs an apology. 

“Why don’t we hang outside? My dads can look after the shop.” Willow suggests. Gus and Luz agree, and the trio move outside after Willow informs her parents of their plan. Luz flops down on the grass and starts pulling patches out and wrapping strands around her fingers absentmindedly. They chatter amongst each other, about the weather, how someone ordered a large bouquet made up of dandelion weeds entirely, Miss Jenkinmires teeth going missing. Again. Luz even starts talking about the grass itself, just to keep the focus off of her. She pointedly ignores the worried glances Gus and Willow shoot at each other. 

When Luz starts to talk about the one thousand and five hundred different grass species found in the Boiling Isles, Willows patience snaps, and she finally speaks up. “Luz, enough about the grass! We’ve heard it all before.” 

Luz falters and opens and closes her mouth like a fish, trying to come up with something else to say. “Uh- oh, wow, are you guys seeing this dirt? Did you do something new to it or-” 

“You’re worrying us, Luz. You know I love hearing you talk about the grass and dirt, but something has clearly upset you.” Willow says.

Gus shuffles closer to Luz and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Luz, you can talk to us. What happened?” One look into Gus’ large worried eyes and Luz’s resolve crumbles. Willow sits closer too, and watches her with rapt attention. She huffs out a sigh and pulls her legs up, hugging them to her chest.

“Okay, I know this sounds totally crazy, but you have to believe me, alright?” Willow and Gus nod in unison enthusiastically, and Luz realizes for the one hundredth time that she’s really fortunate to have such great friends. They’re caring and kind, and just want to help her. But at the same time she feels upset at their insisting; she really doesn’t want to talk about it. The whole point in visiting Willow and Gus is to escape the manor, and Lilith and Belos. But she’s tired of these conflicting emotions always swirling inside of her. She wants to stay optimistic and keep hoping, but she can feel herself being slowly pushed to the edge. And the thought terrifies her. She has to talk about it, so that limit, that boiling point isn’t reached. “Well, earlier today we got a letter sent from Queen Emira,” Willow and Gus sit up at that, their eyes slightly widened, but Luz carries on. “We rarely ever get any messages, or guests, so I was just- I dunno, excited. Even if it wasn’t from Her Majesty, I’d still be curious, you know?” The duo nod in understandment again. Luz hunches over and her tone shifts and hardens. “That was a mistake, apparently. I wasn’t even able to read it, and Lilith was being so mean about it. I would have rathered it if she just hid the letter away from me and never mentioned it again, but, no, she just had to rub it into my face!” 

“Hey, you’re allowed to be upset. Lilith is a massive jerk.” Willow looks around, as if Lilith would appear out of thin air and magic her into next week for backbiting. 

Gus playfully nudges Luz. “Yeah, I’m glad she barely shows her face around town anyways. At least she knows when she’s not wanted.” He says his insult with more confidence than Willow, uncaring if anyone is listening in. Luz laughs regardless. 

“I just don't understand… what have I ever done to her, for her to treat me like this? I’m not a toy for her to keep playing with however she wants.” A heavy weight settles in her chest as she thinks about the older woman, doing and saying whatever she wants to Luz, just because she can. “And Belos doesn’t even do anything to stop her. It’s not fair.” The little whine she lets out sounds pitiful and childish in her ears, but Willow and Gus just hug her tight until she melts in their embrace.

“You’re not a toy,” The harshness in Willows voice surprises Luz, “Lilith is just- Lilith is just a bully, and the only way she can feel better about herself is when she’s picking on someone younger and smaller than her. You deserve better, Luz.” 

Luz gives her a tentative smile. She knows Willow is speaking from experience, that she got bullied by a group of girls their age on the regular herself. That was, until Luz challenged the bullies to all sorts of bold (and reckless) dares and they finally backed off. It was hard to explain her running late everyday and the dirt scuffed on her to Belos, and the near death experiences weren’t exactly fun, but seeing Willow thrive and regain confidence without bullies weighing down on her made it all worth it. “Thanks Willow,” she says. “You’re right,- she was just teasing me a little, I guess, but I wish she’d just leave me alone.” It was mild compared to other things Lilith had said before, that was for sure. 

“Even if it was just ‘teasing’ it still hurt you, and Lilith shouldn’t have said anything to you in the first place.” Gus insists. Luz appreciates how the two sound angry on her behalf, as her frustration is rarely validated by anyone other than King. There’s no one else to have any empathy for her. 

“Hmm,” Willow hums and captures the attention of Luz and Gus. “You said a letter from Queen Emira, right?” 

“Yeah, a strange man named Bump delivered it to us. Said it was urgent.” Luz explains.

Willow beams in excitement while Gus smiles confidently. “It wouldn’t happen to be,” Gus claps his hands together, and a small cloud of glitter and pink smoke bursts into the air, revealing that same sleek pink letter Luz received just this morning. “This one, would it?” He gestures to the envelope that falls right onto Luz's lap. 

Luz gasps in disbelief. “Woah!” She grabs the letter and turns it around to confirm if it really is the same one. The envelope Gus gave her even has the gold wax with the small animal engraved into it, just like the one from earlier, except this one had already been peeled and opened. “Yes! How did you- where did-” Surprise and confusion stops her from fully articulating herself, but her friends understand what she’s trying to convey anyway. 

“We got one too! Everyone did! Bump was going door to door with them.” Willow says.

“Huh. Really?” Luz asks as she stares unblinking at the letter.

“Yeah! Come on, read it!” Gus encourages. Luz happily obeys and hastily pulls the piece of paper out the envelope. It’s heavy and thick, and the stark black letters are written in fancy cursive, looping and flowing across the page. Her eyes dart all across the paper quickly as she tries to absorb every word as fast as possible, and the more she reads the wider her eyes get. She rereads the message about three times, just in case she missed any details, or if she was imagining everything she was reading and needed to snap out of her delusions. Willow and Gus wait patiently for her to finish reading. 

“Wow,” Luz finally speaks as she lowers the letter. “Holy cow, I can't believe it, a royal ball?! At the castle?” A scene unravels in her mind, of nobles wearing big skirted floofy dresses and cleanly pressed suits, dancing underneath extravagant crystal chandeliers while classic music floats around the air in a large ballroom. After all the magic and oddities she’s seen in her life, somehow an event like that seems outside the plane of reality. The event has been arranged for Queen Emiras younger sister, Princess Amity, to find a potential suitor. “You guys are going, right?” 

“Of course we are! Gus and I think it’s kinda stupid- I mean, how can you find a partner to spend the rest of your life with through a ball? It’s just not realistic. But we’re still gonna go, just to see the castle.” Luz deflates a little at Willow's words. Call her naive, but she totally believes that you can find your true love through a ball. A slow, romantic waltz, sweet nothings whispered in ears, longing glances...and then they lived happily ever after. What’s so unrealistic about that? 

Gus notices her damping enthusiasm and quickly backtracks. “But- uh, you could totally sweep Princess Amity off her feet, Luz.” He reassures. “With all your charm, and- charm.” 

“You think?” Luz fakes a coy demeanor and bats her eyelashes, posing with her arm behind her head, trying and failing to come off as flirty. Willow and Gus snicker good naturedly at the display. 

Just as she isn’t caught up in politics, she doesn't know much about Princess Amity. A vague and hazy memory of Luz’s mother carrying her on her shoulders, so she can look over a heavy and bustling crowd flash behind her eyes. That was the first and only time she’s ever saw Princess Amity, though she only got a glimpse at the girl, even from her high position on her mothers shoulders. It was years ago, back when the former King Alador and his wife Odalia were still alive. The Princess is her age, and at the time her short hair was a seafoam green, only a sliver of brown roots showing underneath. Shortly after the war ended and Queen Emiras coronation it was revealed that Alador and Odalia had forced their youngest child to dye her hair, along with other stomach turning things. Luz remembers that much, at least. It had made national news, and the late Blights have been condemned for mistreating their children by the public and palace ever since. 

Would she even be able to go? Luz can’t even stay out with her friends without Belos getting on her case, how would she be able to go to a ball? One that she shouldn’t even know about, no less. She voices her concerns to her friends, who shake their heads. 

“He has to let you,” Gus takes the letter and points to a line of text. “See, it says ‘every eligible person’. You’re basically allowed by law, so there’s no way he can stop you.” 

“I don’t know,” Luz says, her mood souring at the idea of not being able to go. She joked about it earlier, but she isn’t really set on ‘wooing’ Princess Amity. All she wants is to dance, and have fun, for once in her damn life. “Belos doesn’t seem like he cares much for the law.” She ignores how Willow and Gus’ gaze linger knowingly on her too thin wrists, and the dark circles under her eyes. 

“This is different,” Willow insists. “Queen Emira herself said it, it's a royal decree. Not even Belos can ignore that.”

Luz smiles shyly. “Okay,” She says, way too easily. By the lost and discouraged look on her friends faces she can tell that they see right through her. “I guess we’ll just have to see, huh? I hope you’re right.” 

The topic of the conversation changes, and Luz retreats into her mind when Willow starts talking about a new fertilizer she’s discovered with biology terms that Luz doesn’t even know how to spell. They chat aimlessly for the next hour, and when Willows dad pokes his head out the shops door and informs them of the time she pats the two on their shoulders and stands up, wiping any grass stuck on her dress away. 

After she says her goodbyes, Luz makes her way to the town centre and begins her shopping duties. As she waits for the tailor to wrap up Lilith’s dress in a package she tries her hardest not to think about royal balls and Princesses.


	3. Chapter 3

Try as she might, Luz couldn’t get the ball out of her mind. King's encouragement certainly didn’t help, either. Really, she loves him, but he’s proven himself to be a pretty bad influence. When she told him about the ball his multi colored eyes narrowed as he rubbed his tiny paws together mischievously. Even with his mouth not visible Luz could just tell that it was curled into a little smirk. She half-heartedly brushed off King's excitement; for once in her life she wasn’t entirely confident about her chances in attending the ball, but a sliver of hope remained, and, well, she caved. Surprisingly, Kings plans didn’t involve fire, or torture, or any violence at all. In fact it was very tame, and she rolled her eyes fondly when the demon declared that his plot would be Luz’s first steps into becoming a ‘master manipulator’, just like him. 

But even with all the care put into preparing and following the plan she still worries.

She spends all week bending over backwards for Lilith and Belos, running around at their beck and call and meeting all their demands. The marble floor is gleaming, the windows are sparkling and her fingers are dry and flaky from washing all of Belos’ long and heavy robes. All of them! With King's plan of buttering the two up set into motion, she puts a massive effort into keeping the manor pristine and immaculate, and even tries to be less obnoxious than usual. 

The thought of her efforts being for naught plagues her. Belos isn’t exactly known for being charitable, especially towards Luz, so she worries that he might not care for Luz’s extra care and work, if he even notices it. She has to ask outright. And she will, alright, but she really, really doesn’t want to. Just imagining a scene of the potential rejection fills her with despair- if her fears become true then she really doesn’t know what’d she’d do. Attending a royal ball is a once and a lifetime opportunity, and her first chance to go out and just have fun since her mother passed away. She can’t blow this precious chance by asking at the wrong moment. 

Turns out, the right moment ends up being sooner than Luz expected. It happens when she pours Belos’ tea unprompted and quickly slips a coaster on the table before he places his cup down. The man turns away from the morning newspaper in his hand to look at her with a slightly bewildered look, as if he just noticed her presence in the room. His gaze quickly turns suspicious as his vivid green eyes narrow and Luz finds herself fidgeting with her hands underneath the stare. 

“You’re acting strange,” Belos says, his deep voice actually making Luz flinch back. Before his posh and foriegn accent would make her giggle in mirth, but now she dreads hearing it. While Belos is a constant presence in her life and often administers the punishments, he rarely ever speaks to her, instead always assuming that Luz would know what he wants and when, or allowing Lilith to do the talking. “What did you do?” Which- rude, seriously. Luz can be nice without it being about her trying to cover up one of her more poorly thought out and impulsive endeavours. And it's been a long while since she’s done anything dangerous anyways. 

Before she can reply Lilith cuts in, even though this is none of her business. Luz doesn’t dare to say that outloud, though. “Yes, you have been very well behaved lately,” She says, her lips pulled into her signature smarmy smirk. Or signature to Luz at least, since she loves wearing it everytime they talk. “What’s this about?” 

“Uh-uhm,” Luz stutters inelegantly, which isn’t a very good start, “I-I heard about the ball.” She blurts out, feeling pressured under Lilith and Belos’ intense stares. 

Lilith’s amusement instantly warps at that, her eyebrows knotting together while she frowns, mouth set into a hard line. Silence settles between them, and although Lilith looks utterly displeased, Belos himself looks completely uninterested. Luz barely resists the urge to visibly cringe at the awkward atmosphere. 

“Everyone at the market was talking about it,” She tacks on. It wouldn’t do to let them believe that she went behind their backs and read the invitation. “I just- overheard.” 

Belos just hums shortly and takes another sip of his tea. “I suppose you’d like to attend then?” 

Luz’s eyes widen in shock and her mouth hangs open at the question. She probably looks silly, but she can’t help it- really, that easily? Over the years Luz has realized that Belos isn’t the joking type, he’s straightforward and blunt, so she has no reason to believe that his question is deceiving or malicious. She snaps her mouth shut and stumbles over her words in a hurry to reply, “Y-yes, yes, please.” 

Belos waves his hand lazily in Luz’s direction and redirects his attention to the newspaper, “Very well,” he says. “So long as you don’t wander too far,” Luz is aware that there’s some sort of double meaning behind that, but she’s in too good of a mood to think deep about it. “Or get someone killed.” He adds with a knowing look, and Luz has the mind to nod demurely, even though his distrust isn’t doing much for her confidence. Years of desperately suppressing her more destructive impulses and Belos still doesn’t trust her to not do anything drastic. And she’s never put anyone in a life threatening situation! Apart from herself...

“Thank- thank you, so much.” She says, completely sincere. Belos just waves his hand again, this time dismissing her. With Belos’ blessing, Luz is prepared to dash through the halls and hug King so tight his bones creak. Seriously, she’ll never doubt his little schemes ever again in her life. For the first time in a long while a light airiness fills her chest, and she barely resists hopping in the air and clicking her heels together. Excitement, anticipation, and sheer delight mix together inside of her and she feels near drunk on the feeling. She can’t wait to tell Willow and Gus, maybe on the day of the ball she can sneak out of Belos’ sight and meet up with them. 

She’s about to excuse herself to squeal in joy as soon as Lilith and Belos are out of earshot, and is barely turned around to leave when Lilith- freaking Lillith, who has nothing to do with this, felt the need to put her two snails in. 

“Wh-, Father,” Lilith starts, voice breathless in disbelief. Belos shoots Lilith an irritated glare and silently raises an eyebrow in question. Despite Belos’ patience quickly thinning, Lilith continues her protest, “Luz absolutely cannot attend the ball.”

Another uncomfortable silence hangs in the air. While Luz is genuinely speechless at Lilith’s declaration, she doubts Belos really cares enough to grace her with an actual reply. If staying out late angers Belos then annoying him over something as petty and inconsequential as a damn ball will definitely piss him off. Regardless, he decides to humour his daughter. “And why not?” He asks flatly. 

“She might attempt to leave,” Lilith claims, eyes sharp and hands clenched tightly. Just the thought of Luz running away seems to grind her gears, which is a disturbing revelation that Luz doesn’t want to dig deep into either. 

“I won’t, I swear,” The desperation in her voice isn’t enough for Lilith and Belos to spare her any attention, the two still immersed in their own conversation. Whatever warmth in her has completely shriveled and died and has been replaced with anxiety, souring her stomach and leaving her slightly nauseous. She tries for anger, at being ignored even though the topic is about her, and Lilith butting in and ruining everything, but is too on edge, like waiting for the judges gavel to bang and decide her fate. 

The corners of Belos’ lips twitch for a second before returning to its usual flat, indifferent line. “I doubt the girl is capable of doing such a thing,” If Belos was capable of feeling any emotions other than pure apathy and cold rage Luz imagines that he’d be smirking in amusement. “She’s more likely to set a building on fire.” Luz should be offended at that, but bites down her tongue to prevent a retort from spilling out. The idea of using the ball as a way to escape didn’t cross her mind once, and she wishes to convince Lilith and Belos. She’s not above sacrificing her self esteem and agreeing with their insults if it means they’ll let her attend. 

“You never know,” Lilith says simply. At this point her stubborn insistence that Luz would try to bolt given the opportunity is more than a little pathetic, and very childish. 

Belos apparently agrees as he clenches his jaw and slowly turns a page of his newspaper, all the while glaring something fierce. “I don’t care about what she does, as long as she’s back here on the dot and doesn’t cause trouble,” His sharp tone is familiar to Luz, except this time it's directed towards his daughter. “If it really bothers you, you can decide whether she goes. Don’t bother me about it again.” He flicks his gaze back to his paper. “This conversation is over, Lilith.” 

All Luz can do is watch in horror as Lilith destroys her first chance to go out and have fun in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a shitty and short chapter my brain is literally running like cyberpunk on the ps4


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for lilith being creepy and weird and non consensual touching

Luz isn’t sure what would be worse; Belos allowing Lilith to decide whether or not she goes to the ball out of sheer disinterest, or out of maliciousness. The fact of the matter is Belos really just did not care, which shouldn't sting as much as it does now. Really, she should be used to this, used to getting tossed aside and barged about and pushed to the limits. 

That ball was the one thing in years she’s looked forward to. All she wanted was to see the grand castle, and hang out with her bestest friends, and maybe, just maybe dance with a cute guy her age. Just a little. 

But now she wont, she thinks bitterly, sulking through the tall and long halls and languidly dragging a duster across the walls half heartedly. All because of Lilith. Even thinking about her little sly smirk, and her ghost white skin, and her cold, sharp eyes...Luz starts to aggressively scrub the duster into a corner, jamming in it and moving it up and down. A vile mix of dejectedness and irritation stirs in her, and she doesn’t bother to tone it down. What exactly does she have to lose at this point? 

In fact, Belos and Lilith have absolutely no guests over, and both of them either spend their time in their rooms or in their studies, aside from the dining room three times a day. So what the hell is the point in even cleaning this stupid manor? She may as well stop running around like an idiot with a mop every day, sweeping floors and polishing marble, if no one is even going to care. Belos will notice if she slacks off, but what is he going to do? Get angry? 

“Careful, or you’ll rip the wallpaper.”

Luz spins around at the voice, and barely resists narrowing her eyes and scowling when she sees Lilith standing right behind her. She has a theory that Lilith may be a vampire. The long, dark outfits, the sheet white skin, the way she’s never seen Lilith outside in the sun in about three years. These are the signs. 

“Yes?” She grits out, absolutely not in the mood to deal with Lilith so soon after she minced and charred her dreams like that. 

Lilith only smiles in that annoying dainty way that always leaves Luz unamused and faintly tired. “You want to go to the ball,” She states simply. 

So she’s here to, what, gloat? That’s mature. 

“What gave it away?” Luz deadpans.

Lilith ignores her rudeness and grins wider. Then, suddenly, her face drops and she looks vaguely hurt and lost. “So, you want to go out to the ball, to the castle, and leave me? You’re trying to get away?” She sighs heavily, and wraps her hand around Luz’s arm. For no reason, in her opinion. Luz is really not going anywhere. 

“I-I wasn’t going to leave-” Luz almost says “you”, but she despises even humouring the idea that she belongs to Lilith in any way. 

“Oh, weren't you?” Lilith scoffs and rolls her eyes, her grip on Luz tightening beyond the realm of uncomfortable. Luz tugs on her arm and isn’t surprised when Lilith’s hold doesn’t slacken. “You’re a servant girl, Princess Amity wouldn’t look twice at you.” 

“Really,” Luz pleads. “All I want is to see the castle. I promise.” Her voice sounds empty and tired to her own ears. All her frustration had fizzled out, leaving her hollow and sensitive. 

“No, Luz,” Lilith steps closer and leans down, until her face is right up in Luz’s and they’re breathing the same air. She reaches up to pet Luz’s face gently with the hand currently not cutting off her arms blood circulation. “You won’t be seeing the castle. You won’t be going anywhere. Because you belong right here.” 

“But,” Luz weakly protests, her voice quiet and breathy.

With Lilith's harsh and unwanted touch and having her so close, Luz feels overwhelmed. She pictures the castle beneath her lids, light up and bold in the velvety night, and her heart skips a beat. It isn’t about the castle, or Princess Amity, or some random boy to dance with. The ball is about going out and having fun for the first time in forever, and not having to worry about endless chores and her crappy step family. That’s all she wants. And she isn’t ready to give that up, all because Belos hadn’t given a crap and handed her fate to Lilith. 

“Please.” She whispers, desperate and on the verge of crying. 

Lilith lets out an audible breath, and her lips curl into a smile once again. “So desperate,” She observes, clearly amused. “Wow. What a nice change.” If it was even possible, Lilith leans closer and gazes at Luz like she’s a puzzle.

She’s far too close, surrounding Luz and being the only thing in sight like Luz’s life revolves around her, and that isn’t even too far from the truth. Luz keeps her eyes on Lilith, there’s definitely something happening here. Lilith looks far too happy for this not to go anywhere, and Luz isn’t sure if she’s hopeful for what Lilith is scheming or ready to dig her grave. 

“Oh, well,” Lilith sighs dramatically and straightens up. “If only you were always this meek.” She shrugs and let’s go of Luz’s arm, and casually starts walking away, as if nothing happened. 

Luz’s eyes widen a fraction in disbelief, and she stares at Lilith’s retreating figure, not fully sure of what happened there. She runs up to Lilith and grabs her arm to stop her from moving. Lilith faces her and raises her eyebrow, tilting her head and smirking knowingly. 

“I…” Luz stutters, she doesn’t really know what her plan was. For a second, she had Lilith’s attention, then suddenly it was gone. She needs to suck it up to Lilith, show her what she wants. “I can be- good.” She chokes out the word, feeling incredibly embarrassed. 

Lilith’s eyes soften and when she raises her hand Luz jerks back. She’s on edge and nervous beyond belief, she doesn’t want Lilith touching her again, but Lilith pays no mind and continues, twirling Luz’s strands of her hair with her finger. 

“Will you?” Lilith asks. “Will you be good for me, Luz?” Her tone is playful and light-hearted, but there’s a hard, sharp edge there. The request is creepy in itself, too. 

Cleaning and staying on top of her chores more diligently to butter up Belos was one thing, and being ‘good’ for Lilith, whatever that entails is another. Her stomach sinks just imagining whatever Lilith has planned, and if she weren’t so eager, she would’ve kicked Lilith in the leg and stormed off. 

“If- if I do, will you take me to the ball?” She dares to ask. She needs to be sure, if she’s going to hand Lilith the last shreds of her dignity, she needs to be certain that she’ll be going to the ball by the end of it. 

“Yes, Luz,” Lilith promises. “If you behave yourself and do as I say for the whole week, I’ll allow you to go the ball with me.” 

Luz always prided herself in her courage and bravery. She never cowered from a challenge, or a competition, and her little agreement with Lilith certainly felt like both. Sometimes, she takes it too far. Like when she nearly catapulted off Boschas manor roof and fell to her death, during the time she had challenged Boscha to get her to stop bullying Willow. Was it dangerous? Absolutely. But it worked, after that Boscha and her gaggle of girls didn’t even look in Willow’s direction ever again. And this will work too.

It has to, because it’s her only hope for a night of freedom. 

Lilith’s first request wasn’t outrageous at all, thankfully. Only a simple breakfast in bed. 

Luz dropped of Belos breakfast first in the dining room, and unsurprisingly he didn’t comment on Lilith’s absence. Or comment at all. Fine by Luz, she doesn’t need Lilith yelling at her if her breakfast is cold.

She hesitates in front of Lilith’s bedroom door, tray in hand. What are the chances of Lilith really planning to shank her as soon as she steps into the room? High, she thinks. Luz doesn’t have much of a choice, and Lilith knows that too. She can’t exactly ‘Ding-Dong-Ditch’ this, even if she wants to badly. 

The door opens without a sound as she balances the tray with one arm and opens it with her free arm. Lilith is already awake and leaned up against her pillows, in the centre of her large, extravagant bed. She’s still in her sleepwear, with a long, silky robe ties around her. How she’s not on fire under her sheets and in all those layers is beyond Luz, damn witches and their much thicker skin. 

She wordlessly sets down the tray on the bedside table, trying to block out Liliths amused chuckle while she pours in a glass with water from the jug and scoops sugar into Lilith’s tea. She can feel Lilith's eyes on her like a brand, unwavering and burning into her. 

When it’s all laid out, she moves back and keeps a good distance away from Lilith's bed. “Enjoy,” She says, offering Lilith a shaky smile. She prepared to leave, and get on with her other work, but Lilith calls after her and stops her in her tracks. 

“Oh, you’re leaving?” She asks innocently. 

Luz turns back around, and fidgets with her fingers, nervous. “Uhm...no?” She’s just trying to say whatever Lilith wants to hear. 

Lilith laughs again, pushes her sheets away and reaches for the tray. “Come here, dear,” She beckons Luz. 

Oh, ugh, ‘dear’? Is this a thing now? Luz grimices, but obeys. “Yes?” It doesn’t feel right to be looming over Lilith like this, though she isn’t for long as Lilith pats the space on the bed next to her, and Luz has no choice but to sit. 

Lilith goes back to fiddling with her tray, spreading jam on her scone and sipping her tea without a care in the world, like Luz isn’t having a war in her head. She places her half empty cup back on the tray and angles her legs towards Luz so her legs are brushing against Luz’s. Like this, Luz can see the difference between them, the contrast so clear. Lilith’s soft, expensive silk bushes against her scratchy and worn pinafore. A reminder of what they've reduced her to.

“You don’t need to look so nervous,” Lilith teases, eyes shining with mischief. Luz isn’t pleased. 

“Sorry,” Luz blurts out. She doesn’t make any effort to untense her shoulders or slow down her heartbeat. 

“All I want is for you to keep me company,” Lilith picks up the bowl of chopped fruit and a fork from the tray, and gives Luz a sly smile. She spears a piece of canary melon with the fork and holds it up, and Luz knows exactly what Lilith is about to ask for. “Would you like a bit?” 

Not in the least.

Saying that would be a terrible idea. Luz is afraid that if she disagrees and says no to anything Lilith wants, she won't allow Luz to go to the ball. She’s pretty much on thin ice here. 

“Sure,” She whispers. 

Lilith grins wider and raises the fork higher, the fruit is right in front of Luz’s mouth. Luz keeps her eyes downcast as she wraps her lips around the piece of melon, and slowly chews. She can feel the heat of Lilith’s body this close, and her cold stare is back on Luz, watching attentively. The usually cool, sweet fruit doesn’t taste like much in her mouth, which has more to do with her mind going into overdrive because of Lilith's continued disregard for her boundaries. Not that she had laid them out. Or Lilith had asked.

A few more pieces of fruit later, and Lilith excused her out the room. “You run along and do your little chores,” She said, actually shoo-ing Luz away with her hand. Luz tried not to take offense.

Every time she tries to look back, follow the trail leading to where Lilith and Luz ended up like this, the lines blur and the memories warp. Luz didn’t just wake up the day after her mother died in a shabby room and a broom shoved into her hand. It had been gradual, Belos and Lilith had forced her into this role slowly, and now she’s stuck in it. Her relationship with Lilith was once sweet and innocent and soured into this weird and twisted thing through the years. 

She was still reeling from that terrible feeding fiasco. 

Those painfully awkward moments aren’t in short supply. Lilith has her running around manor and town, doing a bunch of favours and getting in her personal space, all week. Luz has realized that Lilith takes great joy in playing with Luz. In seeing her tired from walking all the way to the other town for a specific ingredient for the dinner Lilith had requested, or squirming uncomfortably while planting a couple of Lilith's favorite flowers in the garden, even though she knows very well that Luz can’t stand any of the creepy crawlies and gross stuff living in the soil. 

While Belos allows his magic to do all the talking, Lilith’s abuses tend to be more subtle. She prefers to dig in deeper, and draw things out. She prefers to taunt Luz, and takes jabs emotionally, where it hurts the most. She likes to toy with Luz, and watch her cry, and beg, and desperate. But she’s never given much time to mess around with Luz, without cutting into her work time. Belos would notice her slacking, and Lilith would get a stern look for distracting her but Luz would be actually punished. Belos would slash her back with his fire magic a few times and leave Luz to go dress the wounds, and that was it. She could bury it in her mind, and never think about it ever again in her life. With Lilith she’d be forced to think about her cruel worlds and mocks during the dead of the night, wide awake and tossing and turning. 

At least Belos is predictable. 

Lilith knows this. She has to. Ever since their agreement she has been more involved with Luz’s day, constantly ringing bells and beconing her to give her another stupid and insane errands. This forces Luz to hurry and rush around even more so she can cater for Lilith and please Belos at the same time. And worst of all, she can’t have King over as much without risking Lilith catching a glimpse of him. She’s going through serious comedy hour withdrawals. 

In short, she’s exhausted. Both emotionally and physically. If she wasn’t so damn stubborn she would’ve given up ages ago. Even if she wasn’t doing all this for the ball, she would’ve persevered if only to wipe that smug smile off Lilith’s pasty face.

Lilith is just as competitive as Luz is. Sometimes, after she practically breaks her spine in half to do whatever Lilith had asked, she notices this odd expression cross Lilith’s face for half a second before smoothening out into a pleasant smile. Like a mix of displeasure and irritation. 

Her ability to obey Lilith flawlessly doesn’t make this easier. 

She dreads to hear Lilith’s voice calling out for her. Any time she hears something along the lines of, “Luz, could you do something for me?” she tenses and in her anxiety gets heart palpitations. It sucks, to be worn so ragged. More than she’s been in her life. 

Once, Lilith had asked for her to pick out an outfit for her. Imagine her face when she saw how dark and gloomy Lilith’s closet is. Another time she wanted Luz to brush her hair, and more often, she asks for Luz to keep her company while working in her study. It’s boring, and drab. All Luz does is sit around next to Lilith, silent and unoccupied. Lilith even scolds her whenever she starts fidgeting with her hands or moving her legs. She has a lot of energy, and spending hours sitting down in silence isn’t anything anyone with a pulse wants to do. 

At this point, Luz feels she has this in the bag. The ball is tomorrow, and she’s positively jittery and unbelievably excited. All she needs to do is deal with Lilith’s tasks of the day, and by this time tomorrow she’ll be in the castle having the time of her life. 

Lilith stops her in the hall, while she’s in the middle of carrying an empty laundry basket back to the kitchen. Luz expects her to invite Luz into her office and have her staple some papers together, or something lame and weird like that. It wouldn’t be the first time. 

Instead, Lilith grabs her arm and wordlessly starts dragging her through the halls. Luz startles, and drops the basket right there on the ground, and struggles to keep up with Lilith’s long strides. Just like that, Luz’s confidence fizzles away and is replaced with pure dread. This has never happened before. Lilith had always called her, and asked her for something, then they would start moving. She never grabbed Luz and took her anywhere like this. Luz tries to look at Lilith’s face and guess what kind of mood she’s in. If she’s pissed, then Luz is screwed. 

Luz is going through a list of things she’s done today that potentially could have angered Lilith, when Lilith pushes the doors of her room open and sets Luz on the plush bedding. Lilith shuts her doors, and gives Luz a pitied look after seeing the terrified expression she’s most likely boasting. 

“No need to be so afraid, Luz,” She laughs. Luz disagrees. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” 

“Well,” Luz laughs back, although shakily. “You’ve found me.” 

Lilith doesn’t look mad in the slightest. Quite the opposite, actually. She seems just as excited as Luz felt five minutes ago. For some reason, that doesn’t calm Luz down. 

“I have an idea,” Lilith starts. She moves closer to Luz on the bed and nudges her until she’s sitting in front of Lilith’s full length mirror. 

“Yeah?” Luz doesn’t love this. She’s always nervous whenever Lilith is involved, but this time feels even worse. 

Lilith eyes Luz and frowns. “Always so twitchy near me,” She says, but doesn’t sound offended. 

Luz takes that as a semi-decent sign and lifts her eyes from the ground, and onto the full length mirror. In the reflection she can see herself, looking gaunt and faintly ill. She feels it. Lilith is right next to her, their arms and legs touching, also looking into the mirror. She whips out a comb from thin air and places a hand on Luz’s shoulder, fingers touching Luz’s exposed neck and sending a slight chill through her body.

“I wanted to do your hair,” Lilith states, almost giddy. “You’ll let me, won't you?” 

Luz shifts uneasily and swallows roughly. She doesn’t want Liliths hands anywhere on her body, ever. Despite that, she and Lilith both know that she only has one answer to that. 

“Of course,” She says. “There’s not much to do anything with, though.” 

“That’s not a problem,” Lilith assures, already combing Luz’s short strands. “I so wish you’d grow your hair out, though.” She sighs longingly, and has a sickeningly sweet glint in her eye. 

Luz’s stomach drops further. Lilith’s touch is infinitely more gentle than it usually is, as her fingers rake through her hair and start braiding the longer parts of her hair near her face, and that, coupled with how soft and unguarded her expression is, is enough to deeply unsettle Luz. She wants Lilith to cut this cutesy crap and get to the point already.

She doesn’t.

She spends a dumb about of time doing all sorts of things to Luz’s hair, using magic to lightly curl parts of it and sliding in hairpins, and other stuff Luz didn’t notice, because she’s too busy freaking out on in the inside. Lilith smoothes her hair back out multiple times, then immediately starts tinkering with it again, and every time she does Luz thinks she’s finally done playing around, only to be proven wrong.

Then, Lilith opens her mouth. 

“Can I tell you something, Luz?” She asks, sounding lost and afraid.

Luz isn’t having any of it. She’s been sitting here for about twenty minutes doing nothing but having her hair fiddled with, and the butcher closes in an hour and she needs to get there soon. Lilith is just wasting her time. 

“Sure,” She says tonelessly. 

“It’s a little embarrassing,” Lilith doesn’t appear ashamed in the slightest at all, though. Luz doesn’t know what to say to that, so she keeps quiet and Lilith continues. “You know, I’ve always wanted a daughter.” She confesses.

Luz immediately goes stiff as board. She didn’t know that. And doesn’t know what it has to do with Luz and why Lilith feels the need to share it. Lilith carefully untangles a small braid she’d tied with Luz’s hair, her face and posture still closed off and unreadable. 

“I didn't know,” Luz finally says, voice faint. 

“Well, now you know,” Lilith ditches the hair bobbles and comb and guides Luz to her feet, having Luz stand in front of the mirror and standing behind her. “I’m telling you this, because, well,” She sighs, acting like this is affecting her negatively. “I think you’re a great child, Luz, and I would like for you to see me as your mother.” 

Luz goes very still. Something tangles in her stomach, and suddenly, she can’t breathe. Lilith continues babbling, Luz doesn’t know what she’s saying, all she can hear is a dull roaring in her ears. Lilith is watching her, waiting for an answer, but the only thing on her mind is her own mother. 

Her own beautiful, brave, strong, loving mother. She’s gone, Luz realizes, her heart prickling painfully, and will be, forever. She’ll never move past that loss.

For the longest time, her mother was all she had. Everyone was suffering from the after effects of the war, and many still are, but even through all the pain and the loss and grief, Luz had her mother by her side, and that’s all that mattered. They got through everything together, they were a team, and although Luz probably drove her mother up the wall with her antics she was always so kind and gentle and nurturing. 

And now, Lilith is standing here, with the nerve to even suggest-

Lilith's voice cuts through the fog in her mind, Luz is vaguely aware of her hands stroking up and down Luz’s arms. Luz believes Lilith thinks she’s being comforting, but all she’s achieving is upsetting Luz more. 

“Shh,” Lilith whispers into her ear. “It’s okay, Luz. Everything’s okay.” 

Lilith lets go of her arms, and with her legs being as shaky as they are she crumples to the ground. It’s hard to breathe when her chest feels like it's tightening and suffocating her, and hearing Liliths voice decidedly isn’t helping.

“You poor thing,” Lilith shakes her head and sighs. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” 

Luz’s chest still feels weighed down, and her head throbs in an early sign of a headache. Lilith isn’t touching her, though, and she doesn’t sound angry, so she’ll take those as a win. 

Maybe, Lilith won't use this against her. She never made it clear whether or not she was asking for anything, and besides, something like a familial bond isn’t something to casually ask for, especially after all Lilith has done to her during the years. Luz has worked her butt off all week, so surely this one little thing won’t ruin her chances.

She has to make sure.” You- you won’t- you’ll still let me-”

“Shh,” Lilith shushes her again. “Don’t worry about it, Luz. It’s okay.” 

Luz sags in relief and works to get herself off the ground. She feels light and airy, and not in a good way. She can barely stand because of how shaky her legs are, and her mouth feels as if it’s stuffed with cotton. Lilith takes her arm gently and moves her back to the bed, where she sits down, grateful to rest.

She’s tired, and hurting, and just wants a break from it all. 

Luckily, the ball is tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally, the day of the ball came. 

It had been a rough ride. All of Lilith's games, and tricks, and her unwanted touches and humiliation. Not to mention that absolute bombshell she dumped on Luz yesterday. None of that matters anymore, though, not anymore. What matters is that she won, and Lilith lost, and now she’s gonna dance and drink fancy royalty punch. 

Since morning she hasn’t been able to sit still, and has talked Kings ears off with her enthusiasm and excitement. Of course, her regular duties still have to be taken care of. Any other day she’d feel achy and tired after scrubbing the carriage wheels and having to do all the check ups and even replace some of the gears, but in her euphoric state she barely even winced. Her legs are stiff and sore from walking all the way to the other town for Lilith’s hair conditioner which she swears is the only brand out there for her hair type, and going back and forth to the cleaners after Belos had been disappointed in his suit the first time. But nothing can ruin Luz’s mood, not today.

She finishes her chores for the day earlier than usual in order to make more time to prepare for the ball. Then she retreats to her room and showers, toweling herself dry after stepping out the shower, and desperately combs out her hair in an attempt to flatten that stubborn part of her fringe that sticks up. She fails at flattening it, but moves on regardless. Her nicest clothes aren’t nearly as sophisticated as Lilith’s and Belos, and certainly won't be as the other nobles attending tonight, it’ll have to do, though. Her outfit consists of a plain, cheap white blouse, ironed out for the first time in years, and a pleated purple skirt. She pulls out a pair of grey leggings she wears regularly and puts them on too, and she finishes the outfit with her least beaten up pair of flats. Not a very great fashion statement, but it’s not as if she’s wanting to blow anyone away with her style. She looks semi-decent, and it’s better than the rags she wears daily. She’s hoping the purple of her skirt will distract people from the bags underneath her eyes, and King has confirmed that the white blouse does not wash her darker skin out. 

She steps down the stairs, feeling like she’s floating. Her heart is fluttering in anticipation, and she hasn’t smiled this hard and for this long in years. Like this, she can practically hear the ballroom music already. Lilith and Belos are standing there near the front door, waiting for her arrival. The carriage is outside, and the driver is ready, and Luz seriously cannot wait to go to the castle. 

They both glance up at her arrival, after one quick look Belos goes back to ignoring her presence, but Llilith’s eyes linger. In fact, she’s pretty much staring right at Luz. Luz can’t look at Lilith for long without feeling vaguely ill, the terrible scene from yesterday still printed in her mind. 

“You look absolutely lovely, Luz,” Lilith says, voice breathy.

Luz keeps on smiling, not allowing Lilith’s weirdness to ruin her fantastic mood. She keeps her eyes trained on the ground and shuffles in place. “Thank you,” She says politely. 

Luz looks up, confused as to why they aren’t leaving the house and entering the carriage. Belos raises an eyebrow in Lilith’s direction, while Lilith has this strange, knowing smile on her face. Luz is immediately suspicious, and feels as if she’s missing something here.

Lilith, with a wide grin, says, “You’re here to see us off, then?” 

Luz’s smile drops. “What.” 

Lilith continues as if she hadn't heard Luz. “That’s very kind of you,” She says, nodding along to what she’s saying. “I know how much you wanted to go, too.” She shrugs. “Such a shame.” 

“What- what are you talking about?” Luz darts her eyes between Belos, who isn’t even looking at her, and Lilith, who appears far too gleeful right now. “I-I’m going, right? You…You said-” 

“Yes, yes,” Lilith interrupts. “I agreed I'd allow you to come with us to the ball if you did everything I asked of you.”

“And...I did,” Luz swallows roughly, trying to grasp the situation properly. 

Lilith isn’t making a lick of sense. The deal was that she would do anything Lilith wanted, and she did. Meticulously. For an entire week. So why is she standing here, being all cryptic?

“No, I don’t think you did,” Lilith shakes her head and gives Luz a disappointed sigh. “You weren’t very well behaved last night, Luz. Too bad, right? You had worked so hard all week, all for nothing.” 

Luz gapes at Lilith and her eyes widen. “You-you said, you said everything was okay, and-”

“And everything is okay! You aren’t coming.” Lilith says cheerily. 

Luz’s head is spinning. 

“I-I thought that-” She stutters, at a loss for words. “Oh, please, I did everything for you, all week, please, I-” 

“Mostly everything,” Lilith snaps. In a blink of an eye her expression changes into something cold and sickeningly pleased, she has that awful smirk on her face. “That was not our deal, dear.” 

“But- it was only one thing…” She protests weakly. 

“Not good enough,” Lilith states simply. 

“Wrap this up, Lilith,” Belos growls, looking at his watch and taping his foot on the floor impatiently. This interaction must’ve shaved off a few of his brain cells, by the looks of his bored expression. "I don't care for your feelings towards the girl, stop wasting my time."

Lilith flushes brightly, and glares something fierce, but he doesn’t say anything to her father. Instead she leans down, and raises her hand towards Luz. Luz backs away quickly, and looks up Lilith with wide eyes, terrified. She has no reason to allow Lilith to put her hands over her, and only feels slightly more afraid when Lilith’s displeasure gets worse and scowls. She opens her mouth, as if about to question Luz and her twitchiness, but Belos clears his throat, and she straightens up.

Luz doesn’t watch them leave the manor, but she hears the heavy thud of the doors closing shut. She can’t focus on much, except from her pounding heart and the heavy pressure on her chest. Her breaths come out heavy, and it’s a while before she realizes that she’s been standing and staring at the firmly closed doors of the manor for a dumb about of time.

The house is dead quiet. 

She takes a shaky step back, and then another, and then she turns around and starts running through the manors halls, through the kitchen, and into the back garden. She fumbles with the door handle, turning and pulling it this way and that, before she tears it open with a choked out yell. Something inside of her throbs painfully, as she stumbles outside and collapses on the grass. The pressure in her chest worsens into a stabbing sensation, and the burning, encompassing pain is enough to push her to tears. They start off as weak trails down her cheeks, then as the reality of the situation crashes down into her fully, evolve into heavy sobs. She leans on the small stone owl statue that has stayed in the garden for years, neglected and cracked with age. The grey stone is cool against her bare arms and cheek, and she’s definitely getting her outfit filthy with the dirt and weeds and vines all over the statue and mud from the ground.

Not that it matters anymore. 

She’s not going to the ball. 

She’s not going to the ball, and it’s all her fault. If only she had- let Lilith pose as her mother, kept up the illusion of it for a little while, then she’d be on her way to the castle right now. It’s all her fault, she can’t do a single thing right, and now look at her. She’s her family’s maid, and was this excited for a stupid ball, and like always her heart got broken. 

At every negative and self-depreciating jab, her chest tightens, and she takes a sick, suffering enjoyment out of it. Everything is getting too much. She doesn’t know how much longer she can take this. How long she can go on like this. Too many times has she given up so much and tried her hardest, and it had exploded in her face. This is no different. Really, she should’ve predicted this, nothing ever works out for her. 

Suddenly, the statue she’s leaning on shifts under her. She startles and hastily backs away, and watches in shock as the stone continues to warp and stretch and crumble away with loud crunching and scraping noises. For a moment, she thinks she’s finally lost and has begun hallucinating, and for good measure pinches her arm and rubs her eyes. 

When she opens her eyes again, a person has occupied the area where the owl statue stood. 

“Oh, my god, oh my god, oh my god,” She pants heavily and gasps, thoroughly afraid. 

She just got her heart pulled out of her chest and pissed on, and now she has to deal with a mysterious stranger on the property. Their silhouette is blurry through her tear filled eyes, and Luz is half tempted to just allow them to kill her already. Put her out of her misery. But then Belos will bring her back from the dead and kill her himself in punishment, so it would only be a short relief. 

“Who the hell are you?!” She yells. Too much has happened, and stressed, she starts raking her fingers through her tousled hair roughly and pulling at her scalp.

“Let me just take a second to remember,” The figure snarks, in a femine voice. “You try waking up after titan knows how long.” 

They walks forward, towards the area of the garden illuminated with lights, revealing herself in the lighting. She’s an older woman, with hair like a lion's mane, long and full and silvery. She’s wearing a red dress, ripped and ragged in the bottom and with accenting gold jewelry that matches her fake tooth and compliments her gleaming yellow eyes. Luz has never seen her before in her entire goddamn life. She notices the womans pointy ears, and inwardly groans. A witch. Before she dies, she’ll be sure to tell the witch not to bother digging a grave.

Luz flops on the grass, done with caring for the night. ”Whatever you’re going to do to me, just make it quick,” She says tonelessly. 

The woman grabs her head and yanks it, making it crack loudly. Luz grimaces at the sound, and lifts her head high enough to catch a glimpse of what the witch is going. She’s stretching. The woman bends backwards and creates another harsh crack.

“Chill,” The woman scoffs and rolls her eyes after she’s finished with stretching and cracking every one of her limbs. “I’m not going to hurt you, I’m here to help you!” 

Luz shakily rises to her feet and brushes away all the strands of hair stuck to her wet tear stained face. When she’s steady enough, she gives the witch an unimpressed look. “Does it look like I need help?” 

“Is that a trick question?” The witch asks, eyeing Luz up and down with a raised eyebrow, no doubt taking in her disheveled and pitiful state. “Wait, don’t answer that.” 

The witch claps her hands together, and when she stretches them out again, a thin, golden line follows her hands. A few seconds pass, and the golden line transforms into a staff, dark brown and wooden, with a diamond shaped piece of wood topping it. The woman grabs the staff, and Luz realizes that the topper is carved with simple shapes, and resembles an owl. Actually, the same exact owl the statue was. 

There are puzzle pieces scattered around but Luz can’t connect them together. She doesn’t know if she wants to. 

“My name is Eda, and I am here to help you, human,” The witch says, twirling her staff around and grinning happily at Luz. Luz sniffs and glances around awkwardly, not really sure what to make of this. “Oh, come on.” Eda lets out a breath and her shoulders sag. 

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Luz says. “So, i’m gonna walk away, and you can, uh, go back home. I don’t know, and I also don’t care. So don't tell me. Bye.” 

Any other day she probably would’ve freaked out, or had been excited, or something along those lines. Today is not one of those days. With Belos and Lilith out of the house she might be able to go into town unnoticed and use her great reputation there to get a free pack of cookies from the bakers or something, anything to cheer her up. 

Scratch that, the shop owners and employees are probably at the ball. 

Eda apparently doesn’t want to do that, because she catches up with Luz’s retreating figure and gently places a hand on her shoulder, and Luz stops walking before she can get too far. Eda’s hand is heavy and warm, and not all that unwelcome, so Luz doesn’t shrug it off. Better than Lilith’s clammy and cold hands, that’s for sure. 

“What happened, kid?” Eda asks gently.

Luz spins around and faces Eda, then adverts her eyes and stares at the grass. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” She mumbles. Whatever emotional agony she was feeling before has wilted. Now, she's just sad and empty. 

“Do it anyway,” Eda insists. There’s no malicious or sly smirk on her face or hard edge in her eyes, only a serious frown. 

Even if Eda does end up being an evil blood sucking monster, Luz doesn’t have much to lose anymore. She never did, really. Except from the ball a week ago, but that’s not on the table anyway.

“There’s a royal ball at the castle tonight, and I was supposed to go, but my stupid step-sister didn’t let me,” Luz says pensively. She recalls Lilith merrily announcing that Luz won’t be going and feels upset all over again. “I did everything she asked me to, and she still didn’t take me.” She feebly kicks the grass. “It’s not fair.”

Eda stares intently at Luz for a while with an unreadable look, and just when Luz is about to back away again she takes her hand away from Luz’s shoulder and taps her staff on the ground, bringing it to life.

“Well, why didn’t you say so earlier?” Eda laughs. 

“Maybe it’s because you’re a random stranger?” Luz offers. “What can you do about it, anyhow?” 

Luz is skeptical, to say the least. Did you hear Eda’s bones cracking? Luz isn’t a witch, but she’s pretty sure being out of shape isn’t a very good sign of strength. Also, the implication that Eda was that old and decrepit statue the entire time she’s lived in the manor, most likely longer, is making her feel ill. 

“I can get you to that ball without your- sister noticing, easy,” Eda waves her hand dismissively and smirks, as if amused by Luz’s disbelief. 

“How are you gonn-” 

“Kid,” Eda cuts in, silencing Luz. “I’ve got this, alright?” 

Eda stands back and Luz braces herself for whatever plan the witch came up with. This can only end two ways, either everything works out just fine and she can successfully head to the ball, or it goes haywire and she ends up in more trouble. After recent events, Luz isn’t feeling too optimistic. 

As Eda creates a large glyph with her staff, a shower of gold sparkles fall on Luz. Luz looks up at where they’re falling in shock and awe. It’s a beautiful display, and so different to Lilith’s blue lightning and Belos’ hot flames. While their magic struck fear into Luz, since it was only brought out in her presence to intimidate and hurt her, Eda’s makes her feel comfy and fuzzy. Though it could just be the sparkles, they’re warm on her body when they hit her skin and give her a slight tingling sensation. 

A sudden, bright flash blinds her and she yelps loudly, surprised and somewhat scared. When she regains her vision, her body feels significantly heavier than before.

Because of the poofy skirt she’s now wearing. The thing has to have about six layers to it. It’s soft, and a gorgeous amethyst shade, with a lighter translucent fabric partly wrapped around it, and faintly shimmering. She’s wearing a whole dress, the top part is the same purple as her skirt, and a matching pair of silk gloves that go up to the elbows. 

She’s genuinely speechless, and is aware of her mouth hanging open, but doesn’t make any move to close it. 

Eda takes her silence as a good thing and chuckles lightly, and magics up a massive mirror right in front of her so she can take in her whole appearance. She recognizes the dresses neckline to be a queen anne, her years of purchasing dresses for Lilith forcing her to learn the different terminology. There’s a dark purple collar wrapped around her thin neck, and her usual plain studs have been replaced with gleaming silver ones. The skirt is long and barely skims the ground, and she grabs a handful of the fabric and lifts it up to see what shoes Eda picked out, startled to see a pair of tall heels, made out of- is that glass? 

It isn’t until she sees the high height of the heels that she starts staggering, unable to keep balance. Eda catches her before she falls on the mud and ruins the dress.

“Whoops,” She waves her staff in front of Luz. “My bad.” 

The heels are significantly shorter now, and much thicker. Thank god, she didn’t need to be tripping and falling everywhere in the ballroom. 

“A new dress isn’t gonna help,” Luz whines, but she steps away from the magic staff, just because she isn’t ready to part with it yet. It’s too pretty. And also the most luxurious thing she’s ever been in. 

“Picky, aren’t you?” Eda says without any malice. Then she snaps her fingers and Luz feels another weight on top of her head.

“Really?” All that’s happened is that there’s now a purple band around her hair, not even pushing it away. Just there. “They’re going to recognize my face, Eda! If they see me I’m screwed.”

“Relax,” Eda drawls, leaning against the mirror with her arms crossed. “You look like a completely different person, they’ll never know what hit 'em.” She says, completely confident.

Luz ignores Eda and shakes her head. “If I end up dead, do me a favour and tell them I keep my will underneath my mattress,” She lies, melodramatic. 

“I need you to worry about this less,” Eda says, inspecting her painted nails. She looks up, suddenly very serious. “Wait- How are you going to get there?” 

“I-I thought you’d take me on your staff, or something…” Luz trails off. Going on that thing while wearing this fancy dress will be a challenge. “You don’t know?!” She exclaims, now panicked. 

Eda raises her hands in surrender, but the effect is ruined while she’s holding her staff in one hand. “Hey, everything’s going to be fine,” She says and starts peering around the garden. She points to the large gate. “Does that path out there lead to any street?” 

Luz nods, confused at the line of questioning. “Yeah, directly to the town,” She says. “You just need to keep going straight and take the first left, then-”

Eda claps loudly and her eyes gleam brightly. “Perfect!”

She uses her magic to open up the gate, and a massive carriage with gold and silver decals all around it appears with a poof. 

Luz is about to squeal in delight, but then sees the driver's situation. Or lack of drivers. “Where are the drivers?” She asks Eda, there’s no way she could possibly control that thing, especially without any horses or anything. Nevermind how she doesn’t know where the actual castle is.

“It drives itself,” Eda states. She rolls her eyes at Luz’s flat stare. “I promise, everything will be completely okay.” 

Somehow, Eda’s assurance actually helps, and Luz feels anticipation bubbling in herself once again. This is a terrible idea, and can go wrong in many many many ways. Her face still looks completely the same, and despite what Eda said, she’s not very confident that Lilith or Belos won’t recognize her. Both of them have forbidden her from attending the ball, and if she’s caught they will absolutely tear her to shreds. 

In the end, her desire to go out and enjoy herself for once won. 

She’s probably an idiot for this. If Eda knew how terrible Lilith and Belos are she would not be encouraging her like this. Luz doesn’t feel like an idiot, though. She feels… really pretty. She likes feeling pretty, so she’s going to continue feeling that way, damn it. 

Definitely the dresses doing. 

The dress Eda gave her. She can barely believe that a stranger who appeared out of nowhere in her back garden is the one to help her and achieve her dreams, but she’s incredibly grateful. Eda had no reason to do this for her, could’ve just left, like Luz had told her to do, and minded her own business. She didn’t though, she stayed and is being so kind and generous, something Luz rarely ever sees in people. 

Luz can’t help but bring Eda into a hug. She wraps her arms around Eda’s middle and holds her tight. Eda slowly pats her back, and Luz finds the awkwardness sort of endearing. 

“Have fun, kid,” Eda whispers fondly, looking down at Luz who is still hugging the living daylights out of her. “Make sure you get back home on time, alright?” 

Luz detached herself from Eda and salutes. “Aye, aye, captain,” She grins. 

As she’s riding away in the carriage, she spots Eda gazing up at the manor, looking tense and disapproving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i keep forgetting to add a description of belos without his mask. its because idgaf

**Author's Note:**

> normalize blaming lilith for everything


End file.
